1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to a pickup truck bed cover for use with pickup trucks having a fifth wheel attachment mounted on the bed, and more particularly to a tapered ramp and wheel valley on the truck bed cover that facilitates engagement of a king pin or like attachment means to the fifth wheel.
2. Description of the Background Art
Mounting a king pin or like attachment means from a trailer onto a fifth wheel hitching mount located on a pickup truck bed can be a difficult and time consuming process. For example, when the truck is being backed up to the trailer, the driver of the truck cannot see the trailer's king pin or attachment means because it is obscured by the vehicle. Unless there is another person providing directional assistance to the driver, the driver must guess the direction and distance to backup. This often results in inadvertent contact between the king pin or attachment means and the truck bed or truck bed cover resulting potential damage to the items involved.
The problem is further complicated by the driver having to guess the correct height of the king pin or like attachment means prior to backing the truck under the trailer. Improper height can result in inadvertent contact between the truck bed or truck bed cover and the king pin or like attachment means, and resulting damage to the affection sections. The correct height can vary with the grade on which the truck and trailer are positioned.
Thus, to avoid any mishaps, the driver may have to exit the truck several times during the alignment and engagement procedure to obtain a better view of the situation and take corrective measures as he proceeds. This obviously causes the process to be more difficult and time consuming than necessary.
Numerous truck bed covers have been developed, but none facilitate horizontal and vertical alignment and engagement of a king pin or like attachment means to a fifth wheel mounted on the bed of a pickup truck. For example, some truck bed covers incorporate a slot or tunnel which extends continuously from the fifth wheel to the opening at the rear of the truck bed, thus allowing a narrow path within which the king pin or like attachment means passes through towards the fifth wheel as the truck backs up to the trailer. While this type of design provides the driver some alignment assistance on the horizontal plane, the design is not completely effective. There are other designs which attempt to solve this problem by tapering the side walls of the slot or tunnel from top to bottom, thereby further reducing the margin of error during horizontal alignment, but the problem of alignment on the vertical plane still exists.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a pickup truck bed cover that facilitates the alignment and engagement of a king pin or like attachment means by assisting the driver in horizontally and vertically aligning the king pin or like attachment means and reducing the margin of error involved during the procedure.
The present invention addresses these needs, as well as other needs and offers advantages over the prior art and solves the problems associated therewith.